1. "Who Is My Representative?" - Use the link to find your Representative's contact information: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml OR "Who Is My Senator?" - http://www.senate.gov/ --in the upper right hand corner of the page you will see an option, "find your Senators" –use the drop-down arrow to locate your State and then click on that to bring up your Senators' contact information.

The Honorable First Name Last Name (Your Representative) Address of Office (ie: 104 Longworth House Office Building) United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

OR

The Honorable First Name Last Name (Your Senator) Address of Office (ie: 104 Hart Senate House Office Building) United States Senate Washington, DC 20510

Dear Congressman/Congresswoman _____________ OR Senator____________ (last name in the blank),

As a constituent of your district who has personally been impacted by eating disorders, I am writing today to ask you to cosponsor the Federal Response to Eliminate Eating Disorders Act, (the FREED Act). The FREED Act is the first comprehensive bill in the history of Congress to address eating disorders. The FREED Act focuses on research, treatment, education and prevention of eating disorders and serves as a beacon of hope for the millions of people in our country currently suffering from binge eating disorder, anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS).

Estimates suggest that more than 11 million Americans suffer from eating disorders. Eating disorders affect every single system of the body and are associated with serious medical complications including cardiac arrhythmia, cognitive impairment, osteoporosis, infertility, heart failure and death. In fact, left untreated anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of all mental disorders, upwards of 20%. However, when a person suffering from anorexia receives proper treatment, the death rate falls to between 2-3%.

Research demonstrates that eating disorders CAN be successfully overcome when early detection and adequate and appropriate treatment take place. Unfortunately, at this point in time, eating disorders are all too often undiagnosed or completely misdiagnosed by health professionals, and access to treatment is limited. Less than 1/2 of all people with eating disorders receive the treatment they both need and deserve.

The FREED Act will save lives by providing for better access to proper treatment, research dollars to understand the etiology and effective treatment of eating disorders, grant programs to ensure more medical health professionals and school personnel be trained on eating disorders prevention and treatment, as well as PSA's to broaden awareness of eating disorders.

Currently the FREED Act has bipartisan support with 36 cosponsors. I ask that you sign on today as a cosponsor of the FREED Act as this bill has the ability to save thousands of lives. I look forward to hearing from you soon.